I put my daughter in ballet last year. I heard that the dance school was superstrict when it comes to allergies. They had signs up everywhere telling parents and kids to make sure that kids wash their hands prior to class so they do not cause another child to have an allergic reaction. They also post reminders in their newsletter to make sure that your childs teacher is aware, and that it is in your childs file. They also hand out milk/egg/nut/wheat free candies at holidays, but have decided to switch to stickers due to another child with a red food coloring allergy...and they want to promote healthy eating. They also have signs up that say "do not share snacks".

The dance school is involved in local theater as well and her teachers and some older kids put on musicals which she loves attending. Cinderella is on in december, and she is really excited. We attended Beauty and the Beast last year. We are also going to see CATS this month in Saskatoon.

Both my daughters are in gymnastics. They wear long sleeve body suits, pants, and special footwear to minimize exposed skin. My youngest had one minor reaction to a gym bar so far, but that was before she wore a body suit. They love it. You have your choice between selling chocolates or raffle tickets, so we were not forced to bring home forbidden treats to sell.

Soccer sucked!!! We quit after 3 weeks. Tim hortons was their sponser and my daughter did not want to wear a jersey that said "TIMBITS" on the back. All the other kids went to Tims for donuts afterwards too! It was not a good experience. I've heard that the indoor soccer league is better and does not push food on the kids. We might try it next fall, but the outdoor league is always sposered by TIMS so every year it is all about the stupid donuts!! I felt like, hey, we're here for fun and exercise not to have killer donuts pushed on us!

I would like to put them in swimming...but they both have eczema, and "cold uticaria". They must take reactine 3 hours before swimming...and if they get too cold it could be a situation requiring an epi-pen. I will only take them to warm indoor pools with a regulated temperature, but we do not go too often...too stressful.

My daughter is currently in Irish Dancing and Figure Skating. I've talked to the Irish Dancing instructor - she is a high school teacher and didn't know how to use an epipen so I had to show her. I am a skating coach so all of the coaches know my daughter.

My son is in a Toddler gym type of class with parental involvement - the teacher is a preschool teacher at a peanut-alert school.

My kids also have eczema, not too bad though, we've always been able to manage it with vaseline and gentle laundry soap alone. I found their swimming classes did aggravate it somewhat but we'd just lather them up extra good with the grease after and they would be fine.

We also went in soccer last spring and had the timbits jerseys, I never really talked about the free drink part of it and she had no complaints that we didn't go. No, it wouldn't be my first choice for a sponsor either but I guess they need to keep soccer affordable as well. She wasn't really that interested though and we will probably not go back, although my son probably will go in the kinder-soccer this year.

I did not realize that Tim Hortons sponsered soccer in other cities as well. I assumed that it was local.

My daughters both have eczema too. I've heard that it helps to put vaseline on them before going into the pool. I'm not sure if the pool would appreciate it though. I'm assuming that it would come off in the pool, but I have never tried it.

My 2 DS's were in summer soccer also hosted by Tim Horton's. I believe that Tim's sponsors all minor league soccer (mini soccer). My dad's McDonald's tried to become the main sponsor in our area but was declined b/c Tim's had the "rights" to the mini soccer.

Although, we never felt left out or forced to eat at Tim's. Tim's never brought Timbits or drinks to the field either. The only food was pizza on the last night. I think I'd talk to the soccer coordinator about your concerns b/c I'm sure there are a lot of other parents in the same boat.

When I registered my daughters in gymnastics this fall I put them both in a 2 and 3 year old, with parent class, even though my oldest is 4. I did this so we could all go together and so I could get a feel for how their allergies would be treated before I put them in a class without me. There is a large viewing area, so when they are ready for class without me, I can still watch them.

I wrote on the registration form about their allergies...and reminded the coach on the first day, and asked him to wash his hands before class. He washed every day no problem. He even completely gave up his morning coffee and switched to juice. He has told other parents in other classes to be extremely careful in the gym if they have morning coffee. He asked another parent in our class who brought their baby to watch, to not bring a bottle. Now the mom does not even bring her baby to class because he spits up. Her husband works from home and watches him while she attends with her older son, and they are really supportive and nice about it.

The coach also replaced the garbage can with one large enough that my daughter can not reach in. He replaced the traditional candy at christmas with stickers in all classes, and plans to do this at easter and next halloween as well. He watches them closely during class and will even point out to me if either daughter has red patches on her skin, or is scratching. And today, there were a few coffee cups left on the gym floor from the previous class. He grabbed them, ran to the garbage, washed his hands, and appologized to me...and said that after christmas he will not allow ANY food or drinks in the gym.

Needless to say...we are sticking with gymnastics. And by the way, they love it! I just thought I'd share a HAPPY STORY ABOUT CONSIDERATE PEOPLE, because sometimes they seem few and far between.

What an amazing and considerate coach. I'd definitely tell his superiors about how he has helped keep your children safe during their gymnastics class. It's nice to know there are people out there who really understand the imporance of keeping allergens away from our kids.

At my daughters gymnastics club today the coach asked me if I wouldn't mind putting together some information about allergies and helping them make a poster to increase awareness among their gymnasts and parents, and get them washing their hands.

No...I don't mind! Infact you are one of my favorite people in the entire world! So I agreed to make a poster for them to put up in the entrance way to the gym. It says:

Quote:

ATTENTION PARENTS AND GYMNASTS

Some children have severe potentially life threatening food allergies.
Traces of food from unwashed hands can easily transfer to the gym equipment and cause these children to have allergic reactions.

These reactions occur primarily to common allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk and eggs, and can also occur to many other foods as well. The symptoms of a reaction can vary and include hives, swelling, breathing problems and even death.

Even food on hands too small to see can leave trace amounts on the equipment that other children react to.
Please help keep your fellow gymnasts safe by washing your hands after handling food and/or prior to coming onto the gym floor.
Thank you.

I love my gymnastics club...hard to believe that the poster was their idea!

That's amazing Saskmommy! Don't some people just amaze you with how supportive they can be! With such strong support, I expect your daughter's will stick to gymnastics for a long time - hey, maybe we'll see them on the Olympic team one day

My kids are into lots of different sports (they are aged 6 & 4). They swim, skate, play soccer, take part in Sportball (multi-sports with a ball), attend gymnastics, and our 6 year old skis and horseback rides (our 6 year old LOVES horses, and has loved them since she was about 3 years old - I have no idea where this came from!) I doubt our 4 year old will horseback ride due to exposure to an animal. We are fortunate that our 4 year old son with multiple food allergies does not react to physical contact with his allergens - he must ingest it to react. After our kids take part in any activity (sports, school, grocery shopping) we wash our hands like crazy afterwards.

Julie, my almost 3 year old daughter loves horses too! At 6 months old she insisted on sleeping with a "fisherprice, little people" horse and its rider, one in each hand. She has been horse crazy ever since. She has worn a cowboy hat every waking minute of the day since she got it last september...and I have to do her hair each day to be compatable with wearing the hat...no cute little pigtails. I have an old springhorse that had a broken frame that I made a swing out of in our basement. I hung it from swing set chains and added support beams to my floor joists. It was quite a project, but the kids love it. She has stuffed horses and a horse on a stick that she rides everyday...we bought her that because she rode an umbrella everywhere and looked like mary poppins with a cowboy hat. I bought her this:

She is only mildly allergic to dogs and cats (doctor says an antihistamine should be enough to be around animals...we have not done so yet ), hopefully she is okay with horses so we can get her into horseback riding when shes older. Maybe our kids will be in the olympics for equestrian together.

Are horses a common cause of allergy among those with animal allergies or is horse allergy pretty uncommon?

My daughter watches "wiggles cold speghetti western" and an episode that we taped off of tv of "backyardigans...riding the range" over and over. She also has a wooden glider horse she rides as she watches.

It is ALL HORSES...ALL DAY...EVERDAY in our house with the little one.

That's really sweet! I'm sure she'll love the Birthday cake.
You're lucky, my 4 year old is touch sensitive and she'll only wear yoga pants (nothing woven ) t-shirts (not too tight!) and a "hoody" (those kangaro pket sweat shirts that zip up and have a hood).
Hair care is a quick swipe with brush, negotiations about washing it and a short pixie cut. I have all the ribbons, bands and barrettes to be had in colours and characters too numerous t mention, packed away in hopes that I can do her hair some day.
Can you say 'control issues'?

My son is involved in soccer (indoor and outdoor). The organizers draw up a list so parents can take turns bringing snacks and juice. They specifically ask for peanut and nut free snacks. We always double check, just in case. Apart from one Timbits incident... all has gone well.

Last summer, there was a celebration at a local park to mark the end of soccer. All the kids got an award for participating. Pizza Pizza gave out free pizza. McDonald's gave out free apple juice and Dare distributed their peanut-nut-free cookies.

saskmommy, to answer your question about horse allergies---i'm way more allergic to horses than to any other animal. i went to summer camp a couple of times when i was a kid, and i only lasted for a couple of horseriding sessions---i was having major breathing problems. but hopefully your daughter won't have the same allergy.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum